Sorry, Chloe
by Kendzora
Summary: It's a snow day, and what's the gang to do?


This fic is an answer to the challenge I found at http://www.geocities.com/periclitor/. The inspirition? My own snow day. The guidelines? *Okay, so it's snowed however many feet it takes for the Board of Education to close down Smallville High. Our cast of characters is stranded at home. What do they do? This scenario seems to lend itself to stories that are angsty/meditative or chock full of sex/romance. We don't want either of those options. Give us mystery or horror or action or adventure or comedy or science fiction or fantasy. Give us a genre we haven't even thought of yet. Just no characters sitting alone drawing on a steamed up window contemplating life. Or a couple of the characters generating enough heat to fog up that window in the first place.*  
  
Disclaimer: Once hell freezes over, pigs can fly, and superman is real, I'll own this show, the characters, and the right to do whatever I want with it. Until that time though, I'll just right fanfic. Yay!  
  
~~~~~~~Bright Lights, Fancy Pictures~~~~~~~  
  
Chloe Sullivan held her breath as the radio announcer said the names of the schools cancelled due to the foot of snow that was still building outside. She impatiently tapped her fingers on the countertop in the kitchen and sighed.  
  
"...and Smallville public schools are cancelled."  
  
"Yes!" Chloe shrieked, jumping around the small kitchen. "School's out forever!"  
  
"Sorry, sweetie, but I think school is only out for today and maybe tomorrow," Gabe smiled as he watched his daughter dance around the room.  
  
"Shh...Don't ruin it for me," she stuck out her tongue at her dad before settling into a chair at the table with her coffee cup.  
  
"Well, I hope you enjoy your day off, but I have no such luck. The boss calls," Gabe got up from the table, kissed his daughter's forehead and left the kitchen.  
  
Chloe drank her coffee and listened to the radio, just to hear the announcement one more time. After she was done with breakfast, she dashed upstairs to her room and began the search for warm clothes. She was behind on an investigation for her latest story and had dreams to pull her friends together for help. After changing into jeans, a tank top, a t-shirt, a turtleneck, a sweatshirt, three pairs of socks and snowboots, Chloe called Clark, Pete, and Lana and ordered them to get over to her place.  
  
When the gang arrived at Chloe's house, it was thirty minutes later and about five degrees cooler. Chloe was decked out in white, but Lana, Clark, and Pete were all in pink, blue, and red, respectively. Rolling her eyes, Chloe let them all in to warm up for a few minutes.  
  
"Hey, Chlo', do you mind if I call Lex and invite him to come along?" Clark asked as they finished their hot chocolate.  
  
"Why not? The more we have, the sooner we can get in and out," the petite blond shrugged.  
  
"Where exactly are we going?" Pete after Clark left the room.  
  
"Mr. and Mrs. Cavema's barn," she answered matter-of-factly.  
  
"Why?" Lana spoke up.  
  
"Because I've been seeing little grey men climb out of the barn," Chloe dead-panned. "I mean meteor rocks of course, and sometimes, late at night, there is a slight red glow coming from the building."  
  
Lana looked wary as Pete quickly went to find Clark. "Hey, Clark," he whispered sharply at his friend.  
  
"Yeah, sure, Lex, I understand," Clark held up his hand at his much shorter friend. "We'll see you there in ten minutes," he hung up. "What, Pete?"  
  
"There are red meteor rocks in the barn," Pete spoke softly.  
  
"What?!" Clark looked worried. "I don't believe it."  
  
"Believe it, man," Pete grimaced. "What are you gonna do?"  
  
"I'm still going," Clark pushed past Pete and into the kitchen. "Come on, girls; Lex is gonna meet us there in about ten."  
  
"Great!" Chloe shrieked. "Vamos."  
  
"I barely passed Spanish, remember?" Pete muttered.  
  
"That means 'let's go'; now, come on," Chloe grabbed Pete and Lana as Clark led the way.  
  
The four bundled up and walked the short distance to the Cavema's barn. When they finally got there, Lex was waiting with a smirk on his face as Chloe was in a winter camo, but she was surrounded by three brightly dressed teens. Lex was wearing a tan trench coat that looked to expensive for the area, and of course, it was.  
  
"Lex," Clark greeted his friend. The others just nodded at him.  
  
"Clark, Lana, Mr. Ross, Miss Sullivan," Lex greeted each one in turn, smiling as Chloe wrinkled her nose at 'Miss Sullivan.'  
  
"Our goal is to get into the barn so I can take a few pictures," Chloe held up her camera.  
  
"Alright, good plan," Lex humored her, "but won't you need back up?"  
  
"I.e. the rest of you."  
  
"You need someone to go in there with you," Lex reminded her.  
  
"Fine, you can come," Chloe quipped back quicker than she thought about it. She clapped her hand over her mouth as her eyes grew wide.  
  
"Fine by me."  
  
Lana smiled shyly as Chloe looked utterly shocked, Pete looked upset at the possibility of Chloe going anywhere with Lex, and Clark looked relieved that it wasn't him, but someone he trusted equally. Lex smirked and waited for Chloe's answer.  
  
"Well, then, the rest of you stand guard and look around for anything suspicious. One tap on the wall of the barn in you see anybody coming, otherwise, nada. That means nothing, Pete," Chloe tossed in her friend's direction. She and Lex walked around to the front of the barn and gently pushed open the door. "Don't try anything funny, Luthor," she warned before walking into the dark a-frame.  
  
"Wouldn't dream of it, Sullivan," Lex muttered, following his short companion. They shut the door behind them and proceeded into the dark building.  
  
Chloe turned on a small flashlight and handed another to Lex, "Don't forget, it's easier to hide when you're alone."  
  
"I am fully aware of the benefits of being alone, Miss Sullivan," the bald man responded.  
  
"It's Chloe, and I wouldn't doubt it," she grinned like the cat-with-the- canary.  
  
"Then it's Lex, and I'm sure you are as aware of the benefits as I am," he looked down at a large wooden box with a collection of crystals in it. He found a rock with a collection of red and green in it and bent to pick it up.  
  
"Don't touch it," the petite blond girl slapped his hand. "We're here to take pictures, not leave our prints all over."  
  
"My prints aren't in the system!" Lex snapped back.  
  
"That's want you think!" Chloe hissed.  
  
"Shh!" Lex clamped a hand over her mouth as he saw the rocks in the box start to glow. The rocks filled the large room with green and red lights. The rocks grew brighter and brighter until it hurt to look directly at them, both of the young adults turned away to look at the dancing patterns on the walls.  
  
Chloe finally pulled away to the center of the room. There she started to snap pictures, trying to capture the patterns the lights were creating on the walls and ceiling of the barn. "Wow," she whispered quietly.  
  
Lex moved over to her and stared at the patterns too. "Look, it's like a language or something."  
  
"Or something," she muttered. Lex moved protectively over to her, and they stayed there, the lights making patterns on their faces. Then the lights froze in certain spots. Chloe paused, and Lex stood mesmorized.  
  
"It's like a-"  
  
"A map," Chloe finished, snapping photos quickly and eagerly. The moment she finished the barn went dark, so dark Chloe and Lex couldn't see anything. Then, suddenly the rocks began to click against each other.  
  
Outside, Clark could hear the noise but had no way of getting in without injury. Lana and Pete ran over to Clark as they all heard the noise get louder and louder. Lana gripped tightly onto Clark's hand as Clark stood motionless. Pete knew he should get Lex and Chloe out, but he couldn't move.  
  
Inside, Chloe and Lex stood still, stuck in their spots as the rocks banged and crashed against each other. Lex reached out for Chloe's hand, which was easily found, and he grasped it closely to him. Seconds before he felt the barn would blow, Lex threw the two of them to the ground, and he covered Chloe's body with his. Just as Chloe was about to protest, the barn blew.  
  
Clark, Lana, and Pete stared at the debris flying overhead, and Clark didn't pay attention to the red and green rock which caught itself in his hood. He ran over to Lex and Chloe, both of whom were barely breathing. He scooped up Lex and ordered Pete to get Chloe. The three ran to Chloe's house, where Lana dialed the ambulance. ************ *Two days later*  
  
"Chloe, I swear to god, if you ever get stuck in the hospital due to one of your stories ever again, I'll kill you!" Pete stood in the doorway of his friend's hospital room.  
  
"Sorry, Pete, but I found something great this time," Chloe turned around her laptop.  
  
Pete walked over to look at the pictures she had just finished downloading onto her computer. "What are these?"  
  
"Right before the barn blew, these meteor rocks projected the lights all over," Chloe explained the story as she went through each picture. When she was done, Pete just stood there, stunned. "By the way, how is Lex?" Chloe asked.  
  
"He's good, better than you're doing, I might add." Pete avoided the pillow his friend tossed at him. "It's good to see the old Chloe is back," he smiled evilly at his friend as he tossed the pillow back. "Anyway, I gotta go to school," he dismissed himself.  
  
"See ya later, Pete," Chloe called after him. She saved the pictures on her laptop before shutting it down and taking a nap. While she was sleeping, a figure dressed in dark clothes walked over to her bedside table and picked up the disk that went with her camera. The figure then replaced the disk with its identical.  
  
"Sorry, Chloe," the figure whispered as it took the disk out of the hospital and down to the parking lot, where it climbed into a car and drove off. The figure had no idea the pictures were saved, had no idea the ultimate battle of identities was right around the corner. The events had been set into motion. There was no turning back now. The first to decode the pictures would win the prize, and the prize was greater than either could imagine. ~~~~~~~~~  
  
So, who do you think the mystery person was? I bet you're probably right. Let me know what you think. 


End file.
